The Man in Number 9

Dylan (Max Thieriot) wakes, arm aching from where a bullet grazed him the night before, and heads to the kitchen to find an unusual sight...

...Norma (Vera Farmiga) is in a good mood, and she's making him breakfast. She tells him he needs to keep his strength up so his arm can heal. He appreciates the effort, but he has some bad news for his mother.

Dylan is still intent on moving out, even after learning what really happened to Norman's father. Norma is crushed. Dylan says he doesn't know what he could do to help if he stayed. Norma starts to take out the trash, but Dylan, feeling guilty, insists on doing it.

After dumping the garbage, Dylan notices a strange man in a black Cadillac eyeing the motel. Dylan asks if he can help him.

The man (Jere Burns) asks what happened to the Seafairer Motel, and where he might be able to find Keith Summers. Dylan lets him know that the motel has new owners, and Summers is dead.

The man thanks Dylan politely before rolling up his window and driving away, but there's something about him that doesn't sit right with Dylan.

Norma, happy to have put all the Keith Summers and Deputy Shelby ugliness behind her, gets back to opening her motel. She stops by a local restaurant, only to have the owner refuse to display her brochures. It seems the word is out about what's been going on at Bates Motel, and the word is not good.

Back at the motel, a very depressed Norma pokes through the motel reservation system. As she knows all too well, they still have no reservations, even though opening day is only a week away.

As she closes the office, she sees a man trying to open the door to room 9. She calls out to see if she can help.

It's the man from earlier. His name is Jake Abernathy, and he had a standing reservation with Keith Summers. Norma, delighted to have a guest, gets him his key and wishes him a good night. The man disappears into his room.

Dylan returns home and recognizes the Cadillac in the parking lot. He tells Norma that he saw Abernathy earlier and thought he seemed weird, then heads to room 9 to get his info. He grills the man, but only learns that he's in "sales" before the man pays him in cash and shuts the door.

Dylan heads up to the house with the money and finds Norma trying to scrub Shelby's blood from the front porch. He tries to tell her it won't work, but she's desperate to save the motel's reputation, and doesn't want to have to be reminded of what happened to Shelby every time she walks outside.

Emma (Olivia Cooke) stops by to see if Norman is around, but he doesn't want to see her. Norma tells Emma that Norman isn't feeling well, and Emma goes to leave, although it's clear she understands what's really going on.

Norma stops her before she goes. She has some errands to run and wants to know if Emma will go with her.

Emma is delighted and agrees to accompany her. She and Norma both have a lot on their minds.

That night, Norman tries to convince his mother to let him keep a stray dog that he's been trying to tame. She resists at first, but eventually agrees.

Norma asks to talk to Norman about something important, and launches into a talk about sex. It seems Emma may have let something slip about Norman and Bradley's relationship. Norman tries to convince her that Bradley is a nice girl, but when Norma scoffs at his insistence that he and Bradley are dating, Norman storms out of the house.

Norman heads to Bradley's house. She's home alone, and he has some things he's been wanting to tell her.

Norman opens up to Bradley, and lets her know how he feels about her. He tells her he knows that what they shared was special. Unfortunately, Bradley tells him that she doesn't have the same feelings for him.

Stunned, Norman stumbles off into the night.

After a moment, Bradley grabs her coat and follows him into the darkness. Alone.

As Norman walks, he mutters to himself under his breath, repeating things his mother said in their last conversation. "I mean really, what kind of a girl does that? Invites you over to have sex with them after their dad dies..."

Bradley asks him if he's ok. He turns to her, his eyes dark and strange, and says, "I don't think you're a nice girl."